Henry Carmer Wetmore (August 6, 1823 New York City – January 28, 1862 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was an American writer and politician from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Life

He was the son of Apollos Russell Wetmore and Mary (Carmer) Wetmore (1798–1876. He worked in his father's hardware store. In 1846, he married Mary Jane Bird, and they had four children. About 1851, he removed to Fishkill, New York, and engaged in literary pursuits. In 1854, he published 'Hermit's Dell; from the Diary of A Penciller''. He contributed prose and poetry to newspapers and magazines, among them ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...

''. He was a

Know Nothing The Know Nothing party was a nativist political party and movement in the United States in the mid-1850s. The party was officially known as the "Native American Party" prior to 1855 and thereafter, it was simply known as the "American Party". ...

member of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

(11th D.) in

1859 Events January–March * January 21 – José Mariano Salas (1797–1867) becomes Conservative interim President of Mexico. * January 24 ( O. S.) – Wallachia and Moldavia are united under Alexandru Ioan Cuza (Romania since 1866, final u ...

. William G. Mandeville had been elected to this seat in 1857 for a two-year term (1858–1859). Mandeville was appointed as Postmaster of Stuyvesant Falls, New York in June 1858. He executed his oath and bond, and sent them to the U.S. Postal Department but, before his commission could have been issued, declined to take the office, too late realising that the acceptance of this appointment would vacate his Senate seat. Wetmore had himself nominated, and elected at the State election in November 1858, claiming a vacancy, although no notice of such a special election had been given by the Secretary of State, and no candidates were nominated by the other parties. Mandeville appeared at the beginning of the session of 1859, and took his seat. After much debate, Mandeville's seat was declared vacant on March 16, and Wetmore was seated on April 5, thus occupying the seat for two weeks until the adjournment on April 19, 1859. He was buried at the

New York Marble Cemetery The New York Marble Cemetery is a burial ground established in 1830 in what is now the East Village of Manhattan. It occupies the interior of the block bounded by 2nd Street, Second Avenue, 3rd Street, and the Bowery. I ...

Sources

''The New York Civil List''
compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough, Stephen C. Hutchins and Edgar Albert Werner (1867; pg. 321 and 442)
''Biographical Sketches of the State Officers and Members of the Legislature of the State of New York in 1859''
by William D. Murray (pg. 71f)
''Documents of the Senate'' (82nd Session)
(1859; Vol. 2, No. 104 and 105, arguments for and against seating Wetmore)
Wetmore genealogy
at RootsWeb
Carmer genealogy
at RootsWeb
''DEATH OF MR. A. R. WETMORE''
in NYT on January 22, 1881 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wetmoree, Henry C 1823 births 1862 deaths New York (state) state senators People from Fishkill, New York New York (state) Know Nothings 19th-century American legislators Writers from New York City Burials at New York Marble Cemetery 19th-century New York (state) politicians